Question

In "The School Days of an Indian Girl," Zitkala-Ša repeatedly describes the sounds of life with the missionaries. What is the effect of using these descriptions on the tone of the essay? Be sure to use details from the essay to support your point. (15 points)

Answer 1

Answer:

Explanation:

Usually the sounds convey either confusion or fear. She uses the clacking of shoes to show one or both of these responses.

This is not a happy experience for a little girl who lacks language skills and anything resembling a way of telling those she was with that what they were doing was either humiliating or mentally painful or both. That only increased her frustration. In addition, there were cultural problems. The white woman was totally unaware of what she was doing which she meant with great affection.

I think the whites should have been very careful about the hair cutting episode. If the girl resisted, they should have found out why. Surely someone could have interpreted it. You are asking about sound. Every sound, no matter how innocent, would have frighted the child simply because she had no idea what was going on. And every sound was recorded negatively.

Even her dreams were cluttered with sound that frightened. She dreams of the devil and hears the hinges of the door squeaking while she is asleep. She dreams of him chasing her around the stove. The squeaking is like a loud drum introducing his entrance.

I have started it for you. You can keep going in the same vain.